The Emergent Approach to Change - Essay Example

The emergent approach to change Introduction In today’s world, organizational change has become an evident practice as business environments focus more on achieving their goals and objectives by applying strategies that can enable them to do so effectively. Researchers have proven that the rate of change experienced in business organizations in this century is quite contrary to that of prior decades hence influencing, business managers, and organizational heads to adapt to the same. Essentially, the aspect of change can be either direct or indirect, to the team members of an organization, but this does not necessarily mean that the achievement of the desired results is unattainable based on this fact. In the 1990s, military men came up with the acronym VUCA that denotes uncertainty, volatility, complexity, and ambiguity that exist within business environments, which later became the accepted norm (Currier 2012, p. 22). An illustration of VUCA situation was experienced during the global recession that started in 2008, which found many business organizations unaware and led them to register significant losses during that time as illustrated by Kisinsinger and Walch. Based on this, managers and organization heads have the responsibility of being turbulent, aggressive and adaptive that can enable them and their businesses to stay afloat during such critical financial times. In this regard, this essay will delve into the reason why organizations through their leaders should take the emergent approach to change in line with today’s flexible, unpredictable, and volatile business environments. Ideally, the volatility attached to the existing business environments has influenced organizations to face constant turbulent to which managers work hard so as to overcome. As much as the process of change is complex, the application of theory can be an effective way of ensuring that the management of change meets purpose. Essentially, change within an organization tends to take up two forms which are mainly deliberate or structured, in which, in other instances the same might also be spontaneous. In understanding that change can take up either of these forms, then chances are that the organization can structure an adaptation process that is in line with the different forms of change. The planned approach On the other hand, managers are faced with the choice of either approaching change from a planned or an emergent angle because the application of either of these in the wrong context might not yield the desired organizational goals especially in volatile and unpredictable business environments (Williams 2008, p. 28). Planned change refers to the approach in which an organization implements a step-by-step plan as a way of influencing change to an organization (Ramanathan 2009, p. 30). This approach requires intense planning and serves as a viable option because it creates the element preparedness to an organization when faced with unprecedented actions. Here, an organization through its management team can come up with business models and frameworks that are systemic and are standby options that can be implemented in the event that a business faces VUCA environments. The results that planned change seeks to achieve are that of influencing individual and organizational change through the application of concurrent measures that can also include behaviour. However, applying the approach of planned change is not as easy as it requires that managers analyse the environment and identifying the underlying forces that could be influencing the change. Essentially, Kurt Lewin was the founder of the planned change theory that he established in 1951, which was a three-stage framework that has remained applicable even in today’s challenging business environments (Teirlinck, Kelchtermans, & De Beule 2013, p. 388). The first stage was that of unfreezing, which is identifying the behaviour that needs to be changed, that does not complement the organizational goals. After identifying the behaviour, the next stage is that of implementing the change or moving, which might be successful or not (Davies 2011, p. 64). Once applied, freezing of the implemented change follows as the third step where the goal of this stage is to influence the team members in the organization to learn and maintain the same for future application (Joffe & Neil 2013, p. 246). However, business analysts and researchers argue that this approach to implementing change is not as effective because it tends to be on a trial and error basis meaning that managers cannot be sure if this can help them stay afloat during crisis. Based on this, business specialists view the emergent approach as the most suitable way of enforcing change to an organization especially in VUCA environments. The emergent approach To many businesses, the emergent change is the most applicable approach for organizations when faced with volatility, unpredictable, complexity, and ambiguity in the environments that they operate in. In most cases, this approach tends to be unintentional in that it may arise out information gathered from any source as long as the information is valid. This process is effective as it tends to seek the improvement of the existing conditions within an organization without necessarily having to introduce new concepts and doing away with the existing ones. The idea that this approach advocates for being that organizations should be able to manoeuvre well in unstable environments, which appears to be the new norm for businesses. In essence, businesses that exist in environments that are stable and which they have control over tend to be unresponsive even when its operations and existence are threatened. The emergent approach to change is a continuous process in which the change occurs when an issue is identified and not any later meaning that it is a sustainable way of handling organization challenges in turbulent environments (Perry 2005, p. 261). Applying this approach asserts that an organization is in control of its operations, especially because the management and the team members are accustomed to unstable business environments hence influencing them to adapt easily to the situation. The most important aspect that can influences the success of this approach is that of interaction between members that share the same values and vision as this is highly likely to create unpredictable results. This also involves all the stakeholders in a business working together for the good of their desired goals, especially by making use of the advanced technology tools and the internet that have enabled business organizations to operate in supportive environments. Such tools include the use of Facebook as an interactive and advertisement tool because of its ability to provide immediate feedback can be a relevant source of information that can be useful in the process of achieving change. Essentially, such technology and innovative tools are essential as they also tend to be unpredictable in that a business can never be sure where such an interaction can lead the organization to as part of its changing process (Clarke 2007, p. 123). This is a shift from what Lewin had developed as it involves aspects of emergent progress and organization of the business at an individual level as compared to the planned approach. In many cases, an organization might implement the planned approach, but might end up applying the emergent approach at the same time especially if their business environment is faced by unprecedented activities. The implication of this is that the planned approach tends to integrate with the emergent approach to change at some point, meaning they can work together to complement each other for the good of the organization. As portrayed above, managers and business leaders have the responsibility of finding a way to fuse these two approaches if need be and also provide leadership to team members on the direction that the company should move towards (Holbeche 2009, p. 132). The beauty attached to the emergent approach to change is that it does not include the application of rules that are used across the globe, meaning that it is flexible and can be tailored to the specific need presented. Further, the emergent approach is the most suitable tool that can facilitate the needed changes to an organization because it serves as a learning process for both the management team and the team members as well (Boje, Burnes & Hassard 2012, p. 298). From this, the emergent approach asserts that change does not necessarily rely on predictability in solving issues, but requires that the managers and the team members in an organization understand the complexness surrounding the emerging issues and ascertaining the viable options for solving the same (Davila, Elvira & Ramirez 2012, p. 3). Therefore, the process of implementing the emergent approach in influencing change requires that there be change agents that would be responsible for managing the entire process by provoking results or outcomes during the same. On the contrary, the emergent approach involves risk taking and experimentation because only these can provide opportunities for business improvement and growth even in turbulent business environments (Gray & Wal 2102, p. 198). In this process, managers should be the learning examples that other organization members can refer to especially in terms of them changing their behaviors so as to suit the organizational goals. Information gathering, learning, and communication are the most essential components that can help organizations to maneuver in turbulent business environments in the process of implementing change during the same period (Boyle, & O’Donell 2004, p. 11). As it emerges, the planned approach serves as a road map that can influence the success of the emersgent approach when applied as it cuts down the time for drawing up new plans (Hillier & Healey 2010, p. 422). Conclusion In my view, the emergent approach to change can be effective in influencing a change in the organizational culture by creating a new understanding in towards the importance of cooperation and working as a team (Doherty, Horne & Vootton 2014, p. 126). The emergent approach also requires that team members work together in an organization by putting their differences aside in order for them to work towards achieving organizational goals, especially when operating in a turbulent or unpredictable business environments (King & Lawley 2013, p. 349). To me, the emergent approach is more effective as compared to the planned approach because it influences change in every level of the organization making the structure to be flattened. As much as this approach may be effective in influencing change, the outcomes tend to also be unpredictable meaning that an organization may not be able to prepare for negative outcomes. Resistance to change is unavoidable in an organization when managers seek to replace dominant behaviour that has proven ineffective to a business enterprise (Linley, Harrington & Garcea 2010, p. 75). When faced with resistance, my view is that it is pertinent for managers to communicate the importance of change to the organization and also motivate them to adopt the new behaviour because of the benefits that lie ahead (Robertson 2006, p. 88). In so doing, team members will be able to align themselves with the organizational goals based on the fact that they are motivated to do so as they feel that it is their responsibility. Based on the facts presented above I agree that the emergent approach to change is an effective way for business organizations to deal with the ever changing business environments as it can help them develop strategies that can influence sustainability in such times (Wells 2013, p. 162). Based on this the emergent approach is the most assuring approach to change because of its flexibility and ability to adapt to volatile times with ease., which business organizations find essential. Bibliography Boje, DM, Burnes, B & Hassard, J 2012, The Routledge Companion to Organizational Change, London, Routledge Press. Clarke, S 2007, Information Systems Strategic Management: An Intergrated approach, London, Routlegde Press. Currier, Joe 2102, Connect the Dots: How Significant Life Events Impact Yoiur Life, Leadership Style and Competitive Performance, Victoria, Friesen Press. 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